Game of Life: Winning From Within Starts with No Rules

Purpose helps us understand what is important to do with our life. Knowing your purpose provides a road-map for living a more meaningful life. Our hectic and fast paced life suddenly begins to make sense to us. We begin to slow down, identify our priorities and stop just doing meaningless stuff to fill our days.

There are many “WOW” moments in our lives that we miss because we don’t show-up or lack the awareness to be attuned to them. Our first step in “starting the game” is to be more aware and observe more what is going on in our life. Just by stopping to take note of what is happening rather than rushing by to engage in more activities provides insight for self-development.

Warning–Don’t use these strategies in the game–In basketball to stall or slow down is a strategy to try stop the other team from scoring. It is called taking the air out of the ball and it is a risky strategy for winning because the team leading losses their rhythm, focus and energy. The same goes on in football when teams play the so-called prevent defense…so in the “Game of Life” there is no benefit in trying these strategies.

Here’s how the game is played. Look around, wherever you happen to be, and see what is really going on…stop, observe, reflect and then respond. Who needs to be thanked for a kind deed, who needs support or a helping hand? For example, while driving, maybe you could let other cars go in front of you while waiting to get off the crowed exit ramp. Another possibility is to tell your wife or significant other a new reason why he or she is important to you. Or you could buy lunch for a friend for no reason; create an end-of-day celebration because you lived on purpose today; get up early to write an e-mail or handwritten note of gratitude to someone. These are just a few suggestions but I am sure with imagination and focus you can find many more moments.

The important idea is to play consciously in life, applying your strengths to any and all situations by giving 110% effort…gifts or serving others without expectations for payback. You want to do little things that make you feel better and on purpose. We often put a lot of energy into doing the big things, but in this game you want to feel like you are playing to win “all” the moments of life. There are WOW moments” everywhere, every day. These moments could energize us and make us feel better about ourselves. There are no real rules, no costs to playing and no special equipment needed. When you are ready to start playing just make a deliberate choice to let things happen and then be poised to observe what takes place. The possibilities are endless. All it takes is some imagination and commitment to start.

Self-Coaching Challenge: Make a list of “win from within” moments you could do tomorrow that would be unexpected and make you feel good. Just be more aware of what is going on just STOP, OBSERVE, REFLECT and RESPOND WITH PURPOSE. And remember you seldom make improvements or reach your potential when keep doing the same old stuff expecting different responses. Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress.